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FT 010-K American Domestic Architecture: A Reflection of Self and Society

Professor Greg Huebner, Department of Art, 9:45 TTh
This course will examine American domestic architecture as a cultural statement from traditional Native American dwellings to present day “McMansions.” We will seek to answer the following questions: How does domestic architecture in America reflect individual and community identity, and how has the shifting nature of those identities been expressed in the changing styles of houses we have built? What impact have women had on the development of the American house? How has the development of materials and technology over the years affected the house’s design and function? What effect has the computer had on the traditional use of rooms, and what impact has it had on how families interact with each other within the home? What impact has the increasing ethnic diversity of America had on its domestic architecture? Class activities will include discussions of readings and research, journal entries, short essays and a research paper. We will also take walking tours of significant houses of Crawfordsville and Indianapolis. Readings will include Witold Rybczynski’s Home: A Short History of an Idea, Avi Friedman & David Krawitz’s Peeking Through the Keyhole: The Evolution of North American Homes, Winifred Gallagher’s House Thinking: A Room-by-Room Look at How We Live, and Gerald Foster’s American Houses.